MONTREAL - A pair of Quebecers are spearheading the fight against against two of Canada's cellphone giants over having to pay for incoming text messages to their cellular phones.
Bell Mobility subscriber Eric Cormier and Telus subscriber Natalie Martin initiated the suits and say both companies are acting illegally by unilaterally changing the terms of cellular contracts with their clients.
A Montreal law firm announced on Monday that the suit against Bell Mobility (TSX:BCE) was filed last Friday on behalf of Cormier in Montreal.
It is the second class action suit filed by the law firm in the last two weeks.
The firm filed a lawsuit against Telus Communications Inc. (TSX:T) on July 14 on behalf of Martin.
Both cellphone companies have announced plans to charge customers 15 cents per incoming text message unless they have a packaged plan, with Bell introducing the charge on Aug. 8 and Telus on Aug. 24.
Until now, incoming text messages have not been subject to charge.
"This was something that was free up until then and the problem for the consumers is that they cannot re-negotiate the contract," said lawyer Noel Saint-Pierre.
"What we're trying to get the court to say is that for the duration of a contract . . . the telephone company should not be able to unilaterally modify the conditions of the contract."
Martin, a longtime client of Telus, thinks most clients don't pay attention to the details of a contract after multiple renewals.
"When you're a longtime client, you don't necessarily re-read the fine print," Martin said.
Martin and Cormier say they are both locked-in to their cellular contracts, which last a few years, and would have to pay to opt out.
"To have a plan that met my needs I would have switched to another provider if I didn't have to pay to get out of my contract," said Cormier.
Saint-Pierre says a number of the complaints being fielded by his firm are based on a lack of control over the text messages received, in terms of both content and sender.
"You can control what you send out but not what you receive," Saint-Pierre said.
"And people more fundamentally are fed up with unilateral modifications of the contract."
Both suits will be presented in front of separate judges in September.
